Mendoza pleads guilty: ‘You just don’t stab and kill someone’
OGDEN — A woman pleaded guilty Thursday, Oct. 1 to stabbing and murdering her girlfriend, despite a previous not-guilty plea and against the advice of her attorney.
Victoria Mendoza, 22, appeared before Judge Joseph Bean in 2nd District Court for a review hearing with her attorney, Michael Studebaker.
“Miss Mendoza multiple times throughout the case has wanted to plead guilty and I advised her against that decision,” Studebaker said. “She still wishes to plead guilty and it is her right to do so.”
The guilty plea followed months of delays due to a pending federal case involving attorney’s fees related to the incident, as well as a not-guilty plea Mendoza entered Feb. 27. Studebaker advised Mendoza not to plead guilty, saying he was prepared to make a defense for her at trial.
According to a probable cause statement by police, Mendoza admitted to officers that, while driving on Interstate 15 on Oct. 14, 2014 with Tawnee Baird, 21, the two got into an argument and she “lost it,” pulling out a knife and then stabbed her many times.
An autopsy revealed Baird, who was driving, suffered about 40 stab wounds, prosecutors said.
Studebaker said Mendoza’s sister testified of the difficult relationship between Baird and Mendoza, indicating that Baird was often a primary aggressor in many instances of their relationship. Studebaker said that information built a defense known as “battered woman syndrome.”
“I’m pleading guilty,” Mendoza said, who appeared calm and alert in court. “Doesn’t matter if you’re a battered woman or not, you just don’t stab and kill someone.”
Studebaker told the court in an Aug. 27 hearing that he likely would have to drop out of Mendoza’s case if his client could not receive the resources to retain him, but told Judge Bean Thursday that he decided to work for Mendoza pro bono.
Studebaker said he wanted to put on the record his efforts to create a defense for Mendoza, in case of any future claims that he provided ineffective counsel.
The guilty plea was not part of a plea deal, meaning that Mendoza will be sentenced as charged — a mandatory minimum of 16 years to life in prison for the murder charge. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 10.
Contact reporter Taylor Hintz at 801-625-4231 or thintz@standard.net. Follow on Twitter @TaylorHintz.
